Russia is also a country where people are massively suspicious of their fellow citizens, and equally unsure of their future. And that was before the Russians invaded Ukraine and whipped its own population into an aggressive, nationalist frenzy. One very telling incident: a young Russian journalist was slapped by an older woman on the metro for wearing a shirt with Snoopy holding a British flag. Imagine if the woman had a rifle slung over her shoulder. (That's not hard to imagine if you read my 2012 piece about the small but very active gun rights lobby in Russia.)

As if to punctuate the point, President Vladimir Putin, speaking Tuesday at the United People's Front said: "You can get a lot more done with politeness and a weapon than with politeness alone."